Dissident cleric blamed for attack on alcohol sellers [Sadr]

THE eight carloads of gunmen arrived at the alcohol shop shortly after midday, spraying machinegun fire and hurling hand grenades into the forecourt.

Within minutes windows were shattered, six delivery vehicles shot up and 6,000 cans of beer destroyed. Staff and customers ran into the building for cover.

Victims and police yesterday blamed the attack on the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the dissident Shia cleric.

It is the latest in a surge of raids on alcohol sellers, a cinema and activities deemed unislamic by armed gangs seeking to enforce their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

Last week Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s organisation backed an edict issued by the Hawza Tribal Committee authorising the punishment of “whoever deal with dirty CDs, porn magazines, drugs, alcohol and gamblers”.

A copy of the order, obtained by The Times from the cleric’s office in the slum Shia quarter of Baghdad formerly known as Saddam City, also authorised the killing of hijackers, thieves, kidnappers, al-Qaeda, Wahhabis and “Saddamists”.

In Baqubah a day before the Baghdad attack five alcohol shops were bombed in coordinated attacks, killing a passing taxi driver. In Kirkuk bombers struck at the Salahadin cinema, which residents said had been showing erotic films.

The vigilante raids follow the pattern set across southern Iraq in the immediate aftermath of Saddam’s fall last year when armed militias enforced increasingly draconian restrictions on the sale of music, videos and films.

Last night Abel (not his real name), a 50-year-old alcohol seller, told how he came under attack while sitting in his Baghdad office behind a row of lager cans and a bewildering array of whisky brands.

“I told my staff ‘It’s only 40km from Baqubah to here, so close the main gate and be careful. Then I heard the guys shout: ‘The Mahdi Army have arrived.’

“Two cars blocked the main road on both sides and they opened fire on our office. It was coming from all directions, massive fire that went on for an hour continuously.”

He said the Iraqi police, backed later by US troops, arrived and opened fire on the attackers: “Without the Americans and the police we would all have been killed.

“We all know it was the Mahdi Army. It is a terrorist group. They are not trying to establish an Islamic republic, they just want to take over the country. There should be no amnesty for such people.”

Abel, who refused to give any personal details, said he once had many Muslim customers, some from the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf. He brings the alcohol by bus from Turkey, Jordan and Beirut and distributes it all over Iraq, but says he is one of the few alcohol distributors who has not already been forced out of work.

At al-Alwiya police station nearby, senior officers would not talk about the shootout on Sunday afternoon. A junior officer pulled aside The Times translator and outlined the complex social and religious quagmire facing him.

The 22-year-old corporal said half a dozen of his unit refused to take part in the shootout once they realised that the bandits were in fact the Mahdi Army. Most fled when his patrol arrived, and he opened fire on the four remaining gunmen and two lookouts, wounding one.

After he secured the lorry filled with ammunition, heavy machinegun rounds and a hand grenade, he chased after the backup units which had by then caught the other four gunmen.

“They were shouting ‘We are the Mahdi Army, you can’t arrest us, you have to let us go’,” he said.

“I can’t even tell some of my colleagues here that I wounded one guy because some police come from Sadr City and collaborate with them because they are sympathetic.”

THE REAL DEAL [HIDDEN BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA]

BREAKING: Baghdad, Iraq - Islamic terrorism against Christians

In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, terrorist attacks continue against Christians selling alcohol.
This attack on Saturday murdered a Christian man, and the mainstream media again remained silent.

========= Baghdad =========

In Baghdad, Iraq, Christians at funerals for their children,
murdered by Islamic terrorists' mortar shells.
The mainstream media has again ignored these targetted attacks.

In Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic terrorist attacks on Christians continue unreported.
Here a beauty parlor was destroyed by Islamic terrorists who
demanded on Thursday that she close her business because she is a dhimmi,
but she refused. They returned Thursday night and destroyed it.
When will the panty-hat-directed mainstream media report this?

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